The Empowerment Council, in partnership with the Psychiatric Disabilities Anti-Violence Coalition (PDAC), recently applied for and was awarded the Access, Equity and Human Rights (AEHR) grant to explore the issue of violence in the lives of people with mental health issues.
People with mental health issues are more likely to be the victims of violence. We know this. However, given the propensity of violence experienced in so many ways (some obvious and some not visible), an important question emerged for us: Why is there no framework for discussing the volume of violence experienced by this historically disadvantaged group of citizens?
People often pity or fear individuals with mental health issues. Ignorance breeds misunderstanding, but it can also breed hatred.
We do not discuss this disdain for people with psychiatric disabilities, particularly the most vulnerable who are poor and “don’t fit in”. We talk ‘around it’ — for example, when we discuss how people are excluded from our neighborhoods, restaurants shopping malls, or events. But, what motivates this exclusion? When is it fear and when is it hatred? At extremes, we have witnessed hatred via the production of videos where it’s considered a sport and “funny” to beat and severely assault homeless people and then upload the video for public consumption on YouTube. We have read the offensive and hateful remarks in the comments section of online newspapers when stories are published about people with mental health issues.
Then, there are the deaths — prematurely or accidental. Over the years we have had numerous inquests due to police shootings. There have also been inquests into the deaths of patients that occurred in places of care: hospitals.
There is also the long standing difficulty in access to primary care to improve quality of life for people with mental health issues. The Empowerment Council and CAMH conducted a study to examine these barriers. A 2011 report entitled 40 is too young to die stated clearly that “people with mental illness die young.” Is denial of healthcare a type prejudice? And if so, are people being exposed to potential violence that may be perpetrated against them the longer they wait for healthcare?
Our Research Project
The Empowerment Council and PDAC (Parkdale Legal, PARC, York University, Habitat Services, Public Health, advocates, activists and consumer/survivors) came together to explore the structural issues that keep violence so widespread. This quest was initially inspired after a string of vicious beatings of residents with psychiatric disabilities in Parkdale during the period of January to March 2011. One of the seven victims of these assaults was 62 year old Mr. George Wass, who died as a result of his injuries a day after being released from hospital. We were deeply impacted by the brutal repetitive nature of the assaults, and while an arrest was made, the importance of doing something meaningful, other than just organising another memorial to heal from that event, became apparent.
This topic of violence is broad and complex but we felt it was time to delve into the kinds of violence experienced on a daily basis, including the scope of understanding about this violence from consumer/survivors, and how people make sense of violent events that occur in their lives.
Violence can range from daily micro-aggressions to deliberate overt harms, whether or not the harm was intended. Our aim is to move towards a preliminary framework that offers a multifaceted view moving beyond the predictable “knee jerk” response of remedying violence with “more training.” Is “more training” the best response? Why is this the most often sought narrative and remedy for intervention? Do we need something else?
Through the help and participation of consumer/survivors in a pilot focus group this past October, we determined our inquiry should look at specific areas to get us started. In the next two months we will explore the manifestation of violence in focus groups that capture the experiences of mental health service users regarding:
- Public Spaces
- Women and Trans Community
- Immigrants and Refugees
- Housing
- Institutions/Hospitals
We would love your help and feedback. Do you have suggestions about what would assist in having a better understanding of the violence people experience in their lives? How can we limit the propensity for victimization of people with mental health issues? Are there areas we should look at more specifically?
With your help, we can shed light on issues of violence that greatly affect our most vulnerable citizens. Together we can promote awareness and a more equitable, kinder community for all.